Llano County Sheriff's deputies arrested substitute teacher Angela Palmares, 27, on Wednesday and charged her with "improper relationship between an educator and student," a second-degree felony carrying up to 20 years in prison.

Palmares worked as a substitute in the Llano Independent School District, located 75 miles northwest of Austin in the town of Llano, population 3,500. The district serves 2,000 students from the town and surrounding rural areas.

The investigation began after school officials reported "inappropriate communication with students, specifically through a social media platform outside of the school day," according to Superintendent Mac Edwards in a letter to families. Neither the sheriff's office nor the school district revealed details about the communications, the grades Palmares taught, or the age or gender of the alleged victim.

"The district takes all allegations of this nature extremely seriously and remains committed to providing a safe and supportive environment to students," Edwards wrote. The district "immediately removed the substitute teacher from its list of available substitutes" upon learning of her arrest, the sheriff's office confirmed.

Palmares remains in custody on $150,000 bond, according to jail records. Her case adds to what researchers describe as an epidemic of educator sexual misconduct across American schools.

The arrest highlights a growing pattern of teacher-student misconduct facilitated by social media platforms that allow private communication outside school oversight. Leading researchers cite a culture of permissiveness, reluctance among educators to report colleagues, and secret online contact as key factors driving abuse cases.

While cases involving young female teachers like Palmares generate widespread media attention, male educators account for 90% of sexual misconduct cases with students, according to research data. One expert called the problem "100 times worse" than the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal that dominated headlines in previous decades.

The Llano case underscores the vulnerability of small rural districts where substitute teachers often work with minimal supervision across multiple grade levels. The district's relatively small size means Palmares likely had access to students ranging from elementary through high school age.

Palmares faces her next court appearance in the coming weeks as prosecutors build their case around the social media evidence that triggered the investigation.